Russell Hoban was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania on February 4, 1925. He attended art school in Philadelphia and during World War II, he served in the Army and earned a Bronze Star. He taught art in New York and Connecticut, and also worked as an advertising copywriter and a freelance illustrator before beginning his career as a writer. He began publishing children's books in the late 1950s, including What Does It Do and How Does It Work?, Bedtime for Frances and the six other books featuring Frances, The Story of Hester Mouse Who Became a Writer, What Happened When Jack and Daisy Tried to Fool the Tooth Fairies, and The Mouse and His Child, which was adapted as an animated film in 1977. In 1973, he published his first adult novel, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz. His other books for adults include Turtle Diary, Pilgermann, and Ridley Walker. He received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award for Ridley Walker. He died on December 13 at the age of 86. In 2015 he made the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist for his title Jim's Lion wth illlustrator Alexis Deacon.
Garth Williams was born in New York City on April 16, 1912. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Art and won a British Prix de Rome as a sculptor. During World War II, he was wounded in an air raid while serving as a Red Cross ambulance dispatcher in London. He moved back to the United States and started his career as an illustrator. The first book he illustrated was Stuart Little by E. B. White. He went on to illustrate Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series, The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden, and others. In 1958, he wrote and illustrated The Rabbits' Wedding, which became the subject of controversy because the book dealt with a marriage between a white rabbit and a black rabbit. It was attacked by the White Citizens Council in Alabama and charged with promoting racial integration and was removed from general circulation by the Alabama Public Library Service Division. He died on May 8, 1996 at the age of 84.
